Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Wganda Kenya - Que Buena Esta (1979)

One of the most influential bands from the Caribbean coast of Colombia has to have been Wganda Kenya. I first heard Wganda Kenya in Central America, where in the early '80s two songs from this album absolutely ruled the airwaves and parties: Rosalia and Suavecito (Avispa). Other cuts of this great band can be found on recent Soundways releases, but here is a classic album.

African culture is prominent around the entire Caribbean rim, including the coastal communities of Central and South America. Sample coastal music from any of the rim countries, and you will find direct links to ancestral African cultures. Wganda Kenya, taking a name that itself invokes Africa, takes cumbia and mixes the rhythms up to create something completely different, more African. I hope Fabián can gives us many details in the comments.

On a technical note: This is one of the most damaged records I own. The file I offer is remarkably cleaned using a program called ClickRepair, which removed a ton of surface noise without damaging the music, at least for my ears. The final cut on both sides have a vinyl material defect that creates some noise I could not remove. Oh well. If you would like to hear the album before processing with ClickRepair, you can get it here.

6 comments:

You can say that was one of the different forms or metamorphosis or the original band Fruko y sus tesos I think that this name was the chief, when on stage Fruko wanted to change to other band had changed their clothes and some musicians descanzando as a kind of mixture , Might start out such as Fruko y sus tesos and finish like the Latin Brothers or Afrosound were the same but some just sat at rest and took turns, the only thing was that each one had their own style of sound, Afrosound was more good style afrobeat, funk Wganda Kenya similary, but Wganda had an air more African West Indian style, but the original was Fruko y sus tesos

Fruko eg described in a recent interview that the song of Wganda Kenya "Homenaje a los Embajadores"was so successful that the band of the presidential palace in Panama played the songs of Wganda Kenya.

some of the melodies of Wganda, Afrosound and Fruko sounded versions or melodies from other countries.

the song "Homenaje a los Embajadores" to think it belonged to a Haitian band, was originally from Haiti and sounded a lot in the old Picós - Sound System, but the version of Wganda Kenya liked more on the northern coast of Colombia, especially in the environment of Los Picós.these sound devices were mobile stations that delighted all music lovers and Wganda Kenya, Afrosound, Fruko, Latin Brothers also were the melodies that sounded

Thanks, Fabián, for the great info. I just received the Soundways CD Palenque Palenque, which has a booklet with a LOT of information about the African influence in this music. I am fascinated! I'll have to visit some day. . .

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